Cliffeboy

Don’t think Somerset are favourites to win the League .

Am I missing something here , Wrighty was offered a deal which he agreed to and then changed his mind and decided to go to Redcar for better money. At no time did our promotion discard him or say they didn’t want him to ride for us. So to all intents and purposes he was going to be Rebel in 2019. His choice to go to Redcar. How does anyone know if his decision will be Redcars gain ! What a nice greeting to our new guys who lets face it , are pretty decent themselves, to the club. Stop going on about coulda shoulda, no Wrighty this season , his choice. He’s been a real entertainer and crowd favourite, but he’s gone now, new team, new division. At least give these guys a chance.

Great post as usual Womble.

Maybe Naj, but you can only go so far. Wrighty was goin no where until we took him on , he has been in our side regularly now and has rebuilt his career and has reached a good level in a watered down league. The tear up with Gary didn’t help, and we thought it had all been sorted , but obviously not. Will Wrighty out score Bomber and Rory, cos that will be the target. Don’t get me wrong I’ve always liked Charles and I am sorry to see him leave, but I’m also not going to dwell on it. Charles has started well but so has Bomber, let see how good Chris is once he gets properly dialled into the OTA. Ps , the little one looks a smasher.

Had an opportunity to ride for us but turned it down apparently. Good luck to him but I’m not bothered he’s not with us. I’m only interested in our guys, not anyone who fancied going elsewhere. He was one of my favourites over the years and I always keep an eye out for all our previous guys, but not bothered he isn’t with us. Redcar looking like they may be thereabouts at the end of the season already .

Remember it well OT.

Ok cheers The Cheese.

How about Anders riding for Poole and the Rebels getting an extra 7 pointer as a guest to even things up.

Well done new Rebels skipper Chris Harris, big 15 point max for Ippo last night.

Time to forget about Berge, I have, never turned a wheel for us , good riddance, his loss. It’s gonna be tough for us now as the whole balence of the team has gone out the window, bet Gary is privately fuming. It’s funny clubs often take a lot of stick when they jettison riders for poor form and such like, I suppose the Berge thing is like the boot being on the other foot. Hasn’t Bomber been similarly stitched up by Peterborough. Aaah Speedway we love shooting ourselves in the foot.

No playing the “ being s**t on game”.

Never heard of him, good luck tho. Sorry guys not confident at all with our side this year.

Ha ha ha losers we are certainly not. So BWD, Charles and Berge didn’t want to ride for us you say. Do I really have to troll through all the riders who HAVE wanted to ride for us, including the World Champion. Jog on mate.

Getting a bit fed up with all this now tbh. You are not going to tell me that he ever wanted to ride for us. Haven’t a clue who we can replace him with now. Choice option has now gone just going to get someone we didn’t want to make up the numbers.

At what cost though Speedy our success last season. I think you will find that on previous years there had been speculation about us moving up, but we always knocked it back. Last year was terrific we did so well and so very nearly did the double, but it wasn’t to be, our management had decided this is the best road for us, and I’m with them. In future years if things change maybe we will have another go in the top league.

All good points Naj, but if we had stayed in the Prem , and based on Jacks progress with us last season do you not think that had Poole offered him a better deal than us , would he have stayed? A similar scenario may have been the case with Charles, he is well liked by the supporters, is in the form of his life, and is even backed by our manager, but it always comes down to money . I don’t believe ( I don’t know ) we are a club that doesn’t pay good money to riders, we are renowned for being well run and never not paying our guys. We have attracted some of the best riders over the years that have entertained us and won us lots of trophies. Having been self employed myself I know how it works sometimes you have to go where the bucks are. In saying that we have a decent team again imo. I also would have loved to have had BWD , Wrighty and Jake back, ain’t gonna happen, good luck to them and we move on. Let’s stop going on about who isn’t here and concentrate on who is. We have signed an icon of British speedway in Bomber Harris. He is a South coast guy as well , almost a local lol. Covatti how exciting is he! Have faith in our management, and our riders , I’m sure we will be there or thereabouts at the sharp end.

I’m not saying he hasn’t the ability, just pointing out the sport is littered with young guys who come in under pressure to do well straight away, and fail. Different track for him to get used to as well. Good luck to him.

Careful Tigers bigging up young Kemp by too much. Already saying he can put 2 maybe 3 on his average. Different class of rider at this level.

Tbf didn’t think we would get Jack this season , can’t say about Wrighty cos we are in the wrong division. He probably had a deal in place before we went Championship.

Agree with you to a point about Jack Smith but tbf to him it was the top division he was struggling in. He may find it easier at the second level.

Once again I agree with you mate, but if you do then go and spend your money elsewhere you will lose your Speedway that’s a given. If what’s offered is all Somerset can offer it’s up to the individual punter what he does, all I’m saying is it may not always be like this for us, use it or lose it. As for the Gary May thing didn’t he hint in the Star something about dropping a division if things didn’t pan out at the AGM. Definitely not trying to pick holes in you guys I know you are all set in stone Somerset supporters, and maybe cos we have nothing up here I a bit worried it could all go t**ts up for you lot which would be a tragedy. You are all right when you say what a state Speedway is in, but it’s difficult to see a solution.

Naj I totally get everything you are saying in the above, however what is the alternative. If the Prem League in its current format is unsustainable for the club we have to change. We were perfectly happy for many years in the 2nd division where we had a healthy following and good success, tbf I was shocked when we made the step up. We did fantastic last season and I think we were all looking forward to taking it further, but if it isn’t sustainable you have to change. What is the point of chasing a dream and maybe crashing the team. Somerset have probably one of the best set ups in any of the leagues tbf if we can’t make it work who can ? The entrance fee is also a good point with the difference in calibre of riders. Before anyone rips me a new one lol I know I won’t be paying it. Maybe we need to recoup some money from last season, I don’t know for sure but maybe. You make the point about watching Rowe and Atkins, before you have even see them ride. I think they will probably struggle to start with, they will not be alone, but don’t you just love it when suddenly one of them will pop out of the gate and ride four laps be all over the place and somehow get over the line in front of a more experienced opponent. Crowd goes potty and the kid is overjoyed and maybe goes on to register his best ever score. Different type of entertainment mate. The good thing about Speedway is if in a couple of seasons things have changed we may be able to return to the top flight as Peterborough and Ipswich , if we are no more like Rye and Lakeside we are snookered. ?

Really hate all this negativity, you will all be crying when there is no Speedway. We have no choice up here we have rockall. Gary has again put together a decent team that will compete at this level. We have a cracking set up at Somerset, don’t ruin it. People who know me know that I was and am a passionate follower of the Rebels, I really looked forward to going every time I was down there even when times were hard back in the early days. On the odd occasion I get down there now people are so nice and friendly when I pitch up, like they only saw me the other week when in reality it may have been a year maybe. Brilliant clubhouse, good racetrack (again ), and good supporters. I can’t wait for the season to start again to see how it all pans out.

A lot will depend on how the reserves pan out, we have traditionally had good reserves , it will be a big ask to these young guys to step up. In saying that as long as they can achieve their 2 point average , that’s it anything else is a bonus. The top guys have got to get the youngsters dialled in quick to the OTA. I hope Rory is not coming just to see the season out , we need him banging in good scores every week, and tbf in this watered down league he should be able. Harris and Covatti will always give 100% as will Todd. Finally Berge , he “could “ be Gary’s ace, if he can put a couple of points on his average he could make himself next seasons surprise package. First couple of months will be interesting, I am a bit sad that not one of Wrighty, BWD or Jake are back, with only Todd having a full season as a Rebel under him, but there you go I suppose. I hope the OTA faithful down in Highbridge and Burnham continue to support the club, I would love to still be able to go most weeks. As stated previously my nearest track is now 160 mile round trip, not gonna happen.

Good luck to the 2019 Rebels, top three will definitely have to hit the ground running. I will make an assessment of our chances when the other teams reveal their line ups, at this early stage Scunny look decent.